Lindsey Smith

West Michigan Reporter/Producer

Lindsey Smith is Michigan Radio's West Michigan Reporter. Lindsey has worked as a reporter at radio stations in both West and Southeast Michigan, and her work has been recognized by both the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and Michigan AP. She's a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and Specs Howard School of Media Arts.

Q&A

What has been your most memorable experience as a reporter? Reporting from a hot air balloon was one of the scariest. Trying to bubble-wrap my recording equipment to come with me down a giant waterslide took the most preparation and ingenuity. Mostly I remember people; so many downtrodden, truthful, funny, inspiring, regular-everyday people. Nearly everyone I meet and talk to shapes how I view life in at least the slightest way.

What is your favorite program on Michigan Radio? "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me." It's hilarious. "On the Media" is a very, very close second.

What do you like best about working in public radio?Mostly, I'm proud of what we do and the stories we produce.

What modern convenience would it be most difficult for you to live without?The internet! What did anyone do without it! I mean, I remember life without it, but it's amazing how much I rely on it every day.

What is your favorite way to spend your free time?It depends on the season. I love wakeboarding in the summer, hanging out on the beach, going on long walks with my dog Lola, grilling. In the winter I wish I could hibernate. I do enjoy snowboarding and movies and warm drinks indoors then.

What are people usually very surprised to learn about you?If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise!

Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell is calling on Governor Rick Snyder to place a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing in the state.

Heartwell made his comments today during his state of the city address.

“Our planet is sick and it is we who have infected it. So it must be we who heal it,” Heartwell said to a crowd of at least 300 people. Environmental concerns was one of the major themes of Heartwell’s speech.

City Manager Greg Sundstrom and Police Chief David Rahinsky do not believe racial profiling is a problem in the Grand Rapids Police Department. But there have been claims to the contrary in the wake of incidents in New York and Ferguson, Missouri.

Voters approved term limits in November; so Grand Rapids will get a new mayor this year.

The first candidate to announce he’s in the running is Jared Funk. The 24-year-old may not have a job right now. He may not have a college degree either. But he’s got spirit.

“It’s the ideas and inspiration and enthusiasm of youth that I think the city really requires at this time and that it can be tempered by those who have more experience and who are wiser and more saged [sic] in politics and in governing,” Funk said.

The founder of a Michigan chair company that sued another furniture company after falling out of a chair and hurting his back now wants to settle the case outside of court.

David Miller’s back pain was so bad after he fell out of a chair he had to resign his post as president of Grand Rapids Chair Company. He filed a lawsuit a year ago against Menard’s, where he bought the chair, and the broken chair’s manufacturer U.S. Furniture Inc.

West Michigan Congressman Justin Amash was part of a small wave of Republicans who voted against John Boehner for speaker of the House today. Boehner’s leadership position wasn’t really in question, but the defection was the largest in recent history.

Amash and Boehner have a history that’s been tense at times.

This is the second time Amash has voted against Boehner for House speaker. The first time was a couple of years ago, shortly after Beohner kicked Amash off the budget committee.

A civil lawsuit filed in November against Grand Rapids Public Schools claims administrators failed to protect five teenage students from sexual assault. Now, the district is disputing those claims. It’s asking a federal judge to dismiss the case.

Jamila Williams, a former math teacher at Grand Rapids University Prep Academy, was convicted of four counts of criminal sexual conduct for having sex with underage boys. She’s now in prison.

A former security officer at the Palisades Nuclear Plant was not discriminated against for raising safety concerns. That’s the result of a special investigation released this week.

The security officer claimed her supervisors retaliated against her for raising a number of safety concerns at the plant near South Haven.

It’s a common complaint among security officers at the nuclear plant. So common the Nuclear Regulatory Commission spent a great deal of time last year investigating whether the “chilled work environment” has improved.

Chris Wahmhoff spent hours inside a pipeline under construction in June 2013. He was part of a protest against the construction of a new pipeline across Michigan. While the other protestors eventually left, Wahmhoff spent several hours inside the pipeline, shutting down work for the day.

The Enbridge line was constructed to replace the one that burst near Marshall in 2010, spilling more than a million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River. The new pipe is now operating.

He could’ve gotten up to two years in jail for trespassing and resisting police.

With snowfall in much of Michigan in November, ski areas got an early start to the season.

“When it’s cold and snowy people go into the retail stores and buy things. So the retail sales were up early this year and our ski areas were able to open early. So yes it was a real, real good start,” said Mickey MacWilliams, executive director of the Michigan Snowsports Industries Association.

She says there are a little more than 100 days, on average, that Michigan ski areas are open each winter.

Michigan ski areas have been investing to make improvements on the slopes.

The city of Kalamazoo wants federal regulators to consider a new option for an old landfill that's full of toxic material. The Allied Site served as a dumping ground for the paper mill industry for decades. No mills have operated on the site since the early 1980s.

This week, we’ve told you about efforts to clean up the old Velsicol Chemical plant. There’s a threat to the local drinking water supply after the first attempt to clean up the plant failed. Birds still die from DDT, decades after the plant stopped producing it.

People in Michigan are protesting the death of Eric Garner. It's the second time protesters have come out in two weeks. Previous rallies took place after a grand jury decided not to charge a police officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Missouri.

Health officials across the state are urging people to get tested for HIV. Monday is World AIDS Day.

There are an estimated 21,300 people living with HIV in the state, according to Michigan’s Department of Community Health. The number of diagnoses outpaces deaths associated with the virus, so the number of people living with HIV is up.

MDCH reports an average of 809 new cases were diagnosed each year from 2008 to 2012.

Almost two-thirds of those living with the virus live in metro Detroit. The impact on black males is the greatest.